Post # 341 What A Crazy Time

February 18, 2015 at 3:49 PM | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Post # 341 What A Crazy Time

This has been a crazy time for us all. Winter suddenly hit with gale force winds and all the subsequent fun stuff to deal with. I meant snow. Lots of it. We’re not near Boston or New Brunswick kind of snow, but more than we’re used to dealing with.

First, almost exactly a week ago, we had an ice storm in the overnight hours when normal human beings are asleep. I knew we were supposed to get something, but have seen these things bypass us many times. We live right on the line of bad weather and no weather events. Typically, it’s no weather event. So, at 5:45am when I looked and saw everything looked wet. I didn’t think ice.

It was ice.

And the dogs were pulling on the leashes.

I hit a patch and went down. Hard. On cement. The back of my head hit the cement porch step and I saw stars for a few seconds. Partner/Spouse was in the shower so I couldn’t holler for help. It was 5:45 am so no neighbors were about so I couldn’t holler for help. So I lay there for a few seconds trying to asses whether or not anything was broken, bleeding, or otherwise compromised.

Then Jack, our little black cocker spaniel sidled over to me with his tail stub wagging and licked me on the face. Buddy, the little Boston Terrier (we call him the Terrorist) was in the yard not far from we looking confused since things weren’t progressing normally. Dusty, our larger gold cocker spaniel, the only sensible dog we have, was pooping in the middle of the yard. He had a mission and nothing was going to deter him. I managed to get inside and holler for Partner/Spouse before settling down on a kitchen chair and putting my head on my arms.

No broken bones, no major blood loss (some minor cuts and scrapes), but a massively hurting left leg and left wrist. Had to take several days to rest and get back into the swing of things.

And, of course, Mother Nature wasn’t done. Bitterly cold winds swept in. Just after the ice melted, and Dusty could stop peeing off the porch and actually go into the yard, the wind started. Temps plunged to single digits. The only way to stay warm was to not go outside and to drink Hot Toddies and eat homemade soup.

Then it snowed. We’ve had a dusting or two, but nothing really bad till Monday night. Even the bit we got wasn’t bad in our part of the world. I didn’t measure it, but it was less than six inches. BUT, it had to be dealt with and I was the one home. So, with my wrist brace on, and a game expression on my face, I shouldered my trusty snow shovel and plunged in. Two minutes later, I took the wrist brace off cuz it was getting in the way, and put on an Ace bandage. Three minutes later, I took the Ace bandage off and just shoveled my heart out.

Then I came inside, took a shower, savored another Hot Toddy at 2 in the afternoon, and felt all warm and cozy as I watched the snow plow cruise by and undo all my hard work. To be fair, it undid all the hard work for all my neighbors, too.

So today, I’m watching the sun rapidly melt the powdery white stuff and turn the yard into a giant slush bowl and wondering how I can live in a place the declared an Emergency Situation out of the threat of the possibility of another half inch of snow falling tonight? And my wrist hurts.

Oh, you heard me say Hot Toddy? Wondering when I was going to get around to that?

Hot Toddy is just a simple hot drink with spirits in it. The hot drink can be as simple as hot water, but that wouldn’t have a very good flavor. Mostly it’s hot coffee or hot tea, but in my house, it’s usually hot chocolate because, well, you know, chocolate. Sugar and some hard liquor is added to the hot drink, and it’s served like that. But if you have a roaring fire to sit in front of and soft music in the background, it’s better.

There are lots of different recipes for a Hot Toddy. Hot Buttered Rum is probably the easiest. I’ve tasted that and to my thinking, it’s disgusting. Warm some rum with a few spices (or not) and float a pat of butter on top. It’s like drinking melted butter in rum.

The most common spirits to use are whiskey, rum, or brandy. Lemon features in most of the recipes I’ve ever seen. Honey is another ingredient that’s pretty common. Spices can be as simple as a cinnamon stick, to a whole bouquet garni you mix to your own tastes.